They battled heartbreak. They overcame tragedy. They lost their two best players during the season but still reached the tournament for the second time in school history.

Then they ran into an unlikely scoring machine named Roburt Sallie.

Averaging just 4.5 points per game all year, Sallie hit 10 3-pointers and scored 35 as the second-seeded Tigers came from behind to beat the Matadors 81-70 Thursday and dodge what would have been one of the biggest upsets in tournament history.

"Coach said keep shooting," said Sallie, whose previous career high was 13. "None of my teammates would ever expect me to score 35 points. I never made 10 3-pointers before."

Neither did anyone else in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Sallie's long-range onslaught erased the first-round record and enabled Memphis (32-3) to avoid the stigma of being just the fifth No. 2 seed to lose in the opening round since the tournament went to a 64-team format in 1985.

► Connecticut 103, Chattanooga 47: At Philadelphia, A.J. Price scored 20 from the outside and Hasheem Thabeet added 20 inside to lift top-seeded Connecticut to its first postseason win in three years.

Coach Jim Calhoun had not been feeling well the past few days and was not at the Wachovia Center for the opening tip-off. UConn did not say what was wrong with Calhoun or if he'll be on the bench for Saturday's second-round game against Texas A&M in the West Regional.

► Maryland 84, California 71: At Kansas City, Mo., Grievis Vasquez had 27 points and Maryland shut down the nation's best 3-point shooting team in a victory over Cal.

Tenth-seeded Maryland (21-13) disrupted Cal with its pressure defense, rarely giving the Bears a good look from the perimeter. Vasquez controlled the offense and Dave Neal chipped in 15 points, helping the Terps advance past the first round in their ninth straight NCAA appearance.

► Purdue 61, Northern Iowa 56: At Portland Ore., E'Twaun Moore had 17 points and fifth-seeded Purdue held off a late charge by 12th-seeded Northern Iowa.

JaJuan Johnson added 14 points for the Boilermakers (26-9), who led by as many as 14 in the West Regional at the Rose Garden Arena.

► Texas A&M 79, BYU 66: At Philadelphia, with Bryan Davis leading the way, Texas A&M beat Brigham Young in the first round of the West Regional.

Davis scored 21, Donald Sloan had 14 and the ninth-seeded Aggies handed the Cougars their seventh straight opening-round loss in a rematch from last year. Both teams drew the same seeds last March when A&M won 67-62.

► North Carolina 101, Radford 58: At Greensboro, N.C., Tyler Hansbrough set the Atlantic Coast Conference career scoring record and finished with 22 points to help North Carolina beat Radford.

Wayne Ellington scored 25 points to lead the Tar Heels (29-4), the top seed in the South Region. North Carolina played without injured point guard Ty Lawson for a third straight game, but had no trouble advancing to Saturday's second round against LSU.

► LSU 75, Butler 71: At Greensboro, N.C., Marcus Thornton scored 30 points and LSU held off a late rally to beat Butler.

Micah Downs added 15 points for fourth-seeded Gonzaga (27-5), which won for the 19th time in 20 games. The Bulldogs are in their 11th consecutive NCAA tournaments but had lost in the first round of the last two.

► Michigan 62, Clemson 59: At Kansas City, Mo., Michigan stymied Clemson with its 1-3-1 defense and survived a late scare in its first NCAA tournament game in 11 years.

The Wolverines (21-13) showed little sign of nerves in their first NCAA game since a booster scandal rocked the program in the 1990s, handling - for the most part - Clemson's frenetic press to move onto the second round. Manny Harris scored 21 points and Stu Douglass added 12 for the Wolverines, who will face Oklahoma or Morgan State on Saturday.